Well found a copy for £15, so not bad but the textures are a tad too low res for PC game in this day and age. So will hold off playing any further untill either the dev or a fan comes out with an update or tweak.

Just like Thief or TDM, the game is only action heavy if you make it that way. I've got 30 hour into this game, and I've ghosted all the way through, for the most part. If you're forced to fight, and there's more than one AI you might as well give up. In that way, it's a lot like Thief.

To dismiss this game just because of some low res textures is a mistake (unless you're just a complete graphics whore, I guess). The gameplay is great, it's the best stealth game released in several years. The levels emphasize vertical play, and most missions are fairly large. Tbh, I have doubts that you'll see any kind of enhancement pack released for such a low profile title. It was made by a small team, so of course it's not going to look like Far Cry 4 or Crysis.

Anyway - I've been pimping this game on TTLG, and I'll do the same here. Fun game, interesting protagonist, and unique level design. Story isn't half bad either. Get it. Play it.

I eventually got fed up with this game with only 2 more missions to go, apparently. The problem is that I never got this ninja-ish feeling when sneaking about (partly due to that lacking controls) and to me, that's an important part of stealth games. Maybe I'll return to this game at some point.

Bought it recently and I'm also slowly losing my interest in it. To me the biggest problem is the wide open spaces in the level design. I love that they made non linear and complex! games lack that these days. But stealth in wide open areas is just overwhelming. At any point there are 43862 guards around me, they are located everywhere around me. Every time I'm spotted I have no idea where the guy is. I sit in a corner that "seems" safe, although I have no way of knowing for certain, and try to analyze the situation. After a while I think I know where every potential guard in sight is accounted for so I make my move. Then a guy from an upper or lower level across the bridge behind me spots is alerted. Do I suck or is this made with trial and error in mind?

Bought it recently and I'm also slowly losing my interest in it. To me the biggest problem is the wide open spaces in the level design. I love that they made non linear and complex! games lack that these days. But stealth in wide open areas is just overwhelming. At any point there are 43862 guards around me, they are located everywhere around me. Every time I'm spotted I have no idea where the guy is. I sit in a corner that "seems" safe, although I have no way of knowing for certain, and try to analyze the situation. After a while I think I know where every potential guard in sight is accounted for so I make my move. Then a guy from an upper or lower level across the bridge behind me spots is alerted. Do I suck or is this made with trial and error in mind?

Didn't buy it yet but I can imagine that they chose this by design to bring in more action (it's a must in modern games novadays). Not good for players who wanna ghost though. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I was just guessing (because I can't befriend with the thought that you'd suck somewhere in gaming, Diego)

I could totally be playing it wrong! Maybe I'm supposed to cause mayhem, I don't know. I'll try that lol

But I don't think it is, I don't have a lot of tools for that. In Dishonored, for example, I could see the mayhem option very clearly, with powers like the the rats and the noisy weapons I could use. But I'm not seeing how to do that here, and I die pretty quickly in combat too, I'm pretty sure they want me to stealth.

OR, this is also a very likely scenario, there might be always an easy (stealthy) path you have to find besides the dangerous open areas. Sometimes I find tunnels and high platforms. But 'always' might be a strong word. Some objectives lie right at the center of a super crowded open area, with no other way around it.

I succeeded in ghosting almost each mission (that also gives an achievement, so it has to be possible). The most important tool for that is to improve your amber vision as soon as possible. With that you can see guards through walls and thus can also account for guards in upper or lower levels. The invisibility is also very helpful, even though it does not last very long. Apart from that, you just have to look for the right path. Ususally there is one somewhere with only a couple of guards (if any at all). Clones are alos wuite useful as a Diversion (they also have a "smokebomb" ability for if there are a lot of guards present) If you don't want to aim for the "mercy" achievement and just don't want to be seen (most People don't see that as ghosting, although the game itself sees "ghost" as not triggering any alarms), throwing knives are also very useful (especially because you can use them, while leaning around corners). But as I said: it is definitely possible to ghost each Mission. And it is also possible to finish each Mission without any tools. The combination of both is quite difficult, but should also be possible.

I just played a super cool mission, the one you arrive inside a chest, I think it's the governor's house or something. It's a closer environment too. I had much more fun then and it was definitely easier. I enjoyed using the clone as a diversion, but I don't like to make it too obvious with them chasing the clone, I just hide somewhere they can't reach and scream.

I got through it with very few alerts too. Stealth becomes a lot easier when you realise that the guards' field of vision is very narrow. You can get away with a lot more than you would in TDM. You can take out a guard who's standing back to a wall by creeping along the wall, and not be seen. There are also a lot of "high routes".

One thing I did really like about Styx was the open views you get of large areas, sometimes the whole level. That works for you as well as for the guards. You can sit up there and plan the route and the order you'll take out the guards.

It might be unpolished, with clunky controls (I did not figure how to catch a ledge without climbing it until five or six hours of playthrough) but I liked the game a lot, mainly because it's a slow paced one. Probably the best stealth title of 2014.

Cyanide had to “trick” the ageing Unreal 3 to make the best use of its binary lighting system. Unreal 4’s dynamic lighting might sound like a triviality, but it’s revolutionised Styx’s stealth system. The player now exists in a realm of gradient colour; never pitch black or total brightness.

“There’s a whole gamut in between that we can use to dynamically change enemy behavior to Styx’s presence,” explains Blanchard.

Wow, it only took unreal engine 17 years to catch up the Dark Engine. Amazing improvements there lol.

I'm playing Master of Shadows since yesterday (had it lurking in my Steam games for quite a while now...), and, i must say that i'm pretty impressed. I really like it, and, it kind of defeats my statement that there are no good games coming out these days anymore. Especially like the control, the gameplay is great too (TBH, i'm also a sucker for that fast paced stealth stuff), and, it more or less has everything i'd expect from such a game as well. The cut scenes sometimes show that the budget wasn't too high, but, hey, that doesn't matter at all to me. Nice game.

I think what i like the most is that it felt "right" right from the start. No overwhelming menus, and gazillions of messages on the screen, no game menus which feel like they were vastly designed for eye candy, not for usability, and, really easy to get into gameplay, which is shown logically in the tutorial.

I'm playing Master of Shadows since yesterday (had it lurking in my Steam games for quite a while now...), and, i must say that i'm pretty impressed. I really like it, and, it kind of defeats my statement that there are no good games coming out these days anymore. Especially like the control, the gameplay is great too (TBH, i'm also a sucker for that fast paced stealth stuff), and, it more or less has everything i'd expect from such a game as well. The cut scenes sometimes show that the budget wasn't too high, but, hey, that doesn't matter at all to me. Nice game.

I think what i like the most is that it felt "right" right from the start. No overwhelming menus, and gazillions of messages on the screen, no game menus which feel like they were vastly designed for eye candy, not for usability, and, really easy to get into gameplay, which is shown logically in the tutorial.